Message ACD Articles

Set up automatic distribution for messaging

Automatic distribution for messaging allows you to automatically and intelligently distribute assignment of new, incoming message threads to your agents.

  1. In the Web Admin Center, go to Channels > Messaging > Automatic Distribution.

    Result: The Automatic Distribution for Messaging page is displayed.

  2. Select Enable automatic distribution.

    Result: This activates AD for all incoming messages in your account.

  3. Options:
    Option Description
    Reassign unanswered messages (seconds) When selected, SMS threads are reassigned to another agent when the originally assigned agent does not accept the thread within the specified period of time.

    An agent who fails to answer in time is set to Away status to prevent new threads from being assigned.

    Concurrent message limit When selected, the number of threads that can be assigned to each agent is limited. When an agent reaches the limit, they are no longer assigned new threads. This limit setting can be overridden at an individual agent level.
    Agents waiting for assignment When there are fewer incoming threads than agents can handle, some agents will be waiting for an assignment. Threads are assigned to highest ranked agents first, but you can choose an assignment method for agents of the same rank.

    To determine which waiting agent gets the next item, choose an assignment method:

    • Least Busy. Assign the next incoming thread to the agent who has the fewest active threads and has waited the longest. Choose this to balance the workload between agents.
    • Most Busy. Assign threads to your busiest agents. The next incoming thread is assigned to the agent who is handling the most threads until their limit is reached, and thereafter to the agent who has been idle for the shortest period of time. Choose this option if your agents must manage non-messaging tasks along with their messaging related work. Those who are managing messages will stay busy with messages, while others can stay focused on non-messaging tasks. To prevent overload on a single agent, make sure concurrent limits are set.
    • Round Robin Rotate assignment among all available agents regardless of waiting time or number of active threads (until their concurrent limit is reached). Choose this option to balance the number of threads assigned per agent. Lower ranked agents will only be assigned a thread if all higher ranked agents have reached their limit.
  4. Under Manual Reassignment, tell Bold360 how to place customers into the queue when they are reassigned by an agent rather than AD.

    You can set this option independently for customers reassigned within a department (From same department) as opposed to between departments (From other departments).

    Note: For answered items that are manually reassigned, the queue time is always reset. For automatically assigned items, customers always maintain their place in the queue.
    • To place customers at the end of the queue regardless of how long they have been waiting, select Move to end of queue (time is reset)
    • To place customers in the queue based on time already spent waiting, select Maintain place in queue (time is preserved)
  5. Save your changes.

    Result: Settings are applied to your entire account except where overridden at the department or agent level.

How to set up SMS automatic distribution

Automatic SMS distribution allows you to automatically and intelligently distribute assignment of new, incoming SMS threads to your operators.

Important: Before you continue, make sure you have set up BoldChat to manage SMS.
Note: An Enterprise subscription is required.
  1. From the main menu of the operator client, go to Setup > Automatic Distribution > Automatic SMS Distribution Setup.

    Result: The Automatic SMS Distribution Setup window is displayed .

  2. Select Enable automatic distribution.

    Result: This activates ACD at the account level.

  3. Select options:
    Option Description
    Reassign if not accepted in X minutes When selected, SMS threads are reassigned to another operator when the originally assigned operator does not accept the thread within the specified period of time.

    An operator who fails to answer in time is set to Away status to prevent new threads from being assigned. The operator must then explicitly log back in as Available.

    Limit concurrent SMS threads to X When selected, the number of threads that can be assigned to each operator is limited. When an operator reaches the limit, they are no longer assigned new threads.

    This limit setting can be overridden at an individual operator level.

    Operators waiting for assignment When there are fewer incoming threads than operators can handle, some operators will be waiting for an assignment. Threads are assigned to highest ranked operators first, but you can choose an assignment method for operators of the same rank. See How to rank operators.

    To determine which waiting operator gets the next item, choose an assignment method:

    • Least Busy. Assign the next incoming thread to the operator who has the fewest active threads and has waited the longest. Choose this to balance the workload between operators.
    • Most Busy. Assign threads to your busiest operators. The next incoming thread is assigned to the operator who is handling the most threads until their limit is reached, and thereafter to the operator who has been idle for the shortest period of time. Choose this option if your operators must manage non-SMS tasks along with their SMS related work. Those who are managing SMS will stay busy with SMS, while others can stay focused on non-SMS tasks. To prevent overload on a single operator, make sure concurrent limits are set.
    • Round Robin Rotate assignment among all available operators regardless of waiting time or number of active threads (until their concurrent limit is reached). Choose this option to balance the number of threads assigned per operator. Lower ranked operators will only be assigned a thread if all higher ranked operators have reached their limit.
  4. Save your changes.

    Result: Settings are applied to your entire account except where overridden at the department or operator level.

Announcements

Genesys DX/Bold360 End of Life: January 2024

The Genesys DX (Bold360) platform will end of life on January 31st, 2024. This difficult decision was announced in March, 2023.  

Genesys continues to make a strong commitment to Genesys Cloud, while tightening the portfolio to further accelerate feature growth on the platform. Part of that included bringing over key Genesys DX features to Genesys Cloud CX, such as Knowledge Optimizer that focuses on ease-of-use knowledge management. Digital only licenses for Genesys Cloud were also introduced late last year, which are suitable to those who are not looking for voice capabilities or who need agent seats that only feature support for digital channels. 

Details on the end of life timeline

As of January 31st, 2024, access to Genesys DX product interfaces and customer-deployed components stop to function. Users will no longer be able to log into product interfaces, and all of the boldchat/bold360/nanorep domains will become unavailable for use. If you are curious on what the code on your website related to this might look like and how to remove it, we encourage referencing this post on the DX community

After January 31st, 2024, admins will still be able to get access for an additional 30 days. This period is meant to allow for extracting the necessary data from the platform. Historical data extraction from your account will be available to retrieve by data extraction APIs (Bold360 APIs and Nanorep APIs).